Scott Lynch releases excerpt from a new Locke Lamora story

Scott Lynch has posted a rare update on his writing, including an excerpt from his next Gentleman Bastard project, the first of three novellas set after the events of The Republic of Thieves.

A 2012 mockup cover for two of the novellas

As reported last June, Lynch has decided to deliver three novellas before releasing the next full novel in the series, The Thorn of Emberlain (which itself exists as a full draft). The first of the novellas is now called More Than Fools Fill Graves, and will be followed by The Mad Baron's Mechanical Attic and The Choir of Knives (the latter two titles have been known for well over a decade by this point, although might still be subject to change).

The three novellas form a continuous but optional narrative, starting the moment The Republic of Thieves ends and continuing through to the start of The Thorn of Emberlain. The combined length of the three novellas will be around three-quarters of a typical Gentleman Bastard novel.

We don't have any kind of release schedule for the novellas and the following novel yet, but hopefully news on that will follow soon now that the first novella is both complete and titled up.

Scott Lynch provides update on his GENTLEMAN BASTARD series

Scott Lynch has provided another update on his long-percolating Gentleman Bastard series, confirming progress on both the fourth novel and a number of long-promised novellas.

Lynch's series began with The Lies of Locke Lamora in 2006, a hugely successful debut fantasy novel that was marketed the first of seven books. It was immediately followed by Red Seas Under Red Skies in 2007. However, it was five years before the third book, The Republic of Thieves, finally hit shelves. Lynch confirmed in candid blog posts that he had been facing mental health issues which had delayed work on the series.

Lynch completed a draft of the fourth novel in the series, The Thorn of Emberlain, in 2019 (and shared a sneak peek at the map in 2016). However, additional health issues (presumably not helped by the pandemic) meant that progress on revisions proceeded very slowly. Lynch confirmed a year ago that he had switched to a new medication regime which seemed to be paying off, and was trying to speak more openly about his projects.

In today's update, Lynch confirmed that work on revising The Thorn of Emberlain continues and he hopes to have news on that front next month. In the meantime he has also completed the third of three Gentleman Bastard novellas which will serve as a nonessential bridge between The Republic of Thieves and The Thorn of Emberlain, the first exploring Locke and Jean's flight from the city of Karthain. The first novellas is as-yet untitled, but will be published by Subterranean Press before possibly seeing a wider release later on. The later novellas' titles have been known for a while, being The Mad Baron's Mechanical Attic and The Choir of Knives.

The Thorn of Emberlain is one of the most eagerly-awaited, long-gestating fantasy novels in the field, alongside George R.R. Martin's The Winds of Winter and Patrick Rothfuss's The Doors of Stone (both some eleven years in progress) and JV Jones's Endlords (twelve years). Both Martin and Jones have provided significant recent updates on making good progress, although the status of Rothfuss's novel remains unclear.

Scott Lynch provides update on his writing process

Scott Lynch, the author of the long-percolating Gentleman Bastard series which began with The Lies of Locke Lamora (2006) has provided a substantial update on his current writing situation.

As is well-known, Lynch launched his career impressively with The Lies of Locke Lamora and its immediate sequel, Red Seas Under Red Skies (2007). However, his proposed seven-book series seemed to stall after that point. The third book, The Republic of Thieves, was not published until 2013. The fourth book, The Thorn of Emberlain, has been hovering around the edge of completion for well over two years, since Lynch revealed he had completed a draft of the novel in early 2019. However, updates since then have been fleeting.

Lynch has faced a public battle with mental health issues, publicly speaking about delays caused by anxiety, bereavement and other problems in his life. A few years ago he noted that he was reasonably productive as far as writers go, but had crippling problems letting go of a work and sending the final version to the publishers.

In his update, Lynch confirms that this problem has left him in a situation similar to "Prince's vault," the analogy that the musical artist Prince completed entire albums and numerous, fairly expensive music videos and then shelved them in his vault for years and years on end, refusing to release them to the world (five years after his passing, the fate of much of that material remains unclear). Lynch confirms that in his "vault" are seven short stories, a novella, a novelette, a number of essays and even a whole novel (whether this is The Thorn of Emberlain is unclear, but one assumes so since he confirmed completion of that draft), which he wants to get out to the world.

To combat his anxiety issues, Lynch confirms he is now on anti-anxiety medication for the first time in his life and he hopes this will allow him to start releasing this material to the world. Obviously we wish him the very best and hope this helps him with his health issues, before any consideration of his writing career.

Scott Lynch completes THE THORN OF EMBERLAIN

Scott Lynch has confirmed that he has completed and delivered the manuscript for The Thorn of Emberlain, the fourth book in his Gentleman Bastard series.

The series began with The Lies of Locke Lamora (2006) and continued with Red Seas Over Red Skies (2007) and The Republic of Thieves (2013). The latter two books in the series have been delayed as Scott has had significant health issues.

Three more books are planned for the series: The Ministry of Necessity, The Mage and the Master Spy (title subject to change) and Inherit the Night.

With the manuscript complete, there will now be revisions, rewrites and edits before the book can be published. Due to this, I suspect we will not see the book before 2020. This is still great news, and Lynch gets bragging rights for being the first of the "Unholy Trifecta" of long-delayed fantasy novels (along with Patrick Rothfuss's Doors of Stone and George R.R. Martin's The Winds of Winter) to get to print.

Scott Lynch's GENTLEMAN BASTARD series optioned for film

Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastard series has been optioned for film by Phoenix Pictures, it has been announced.

Lynch's Gentleman Bastard series got off to a roaring start with The Lies of Locke Lamora in 2006. Since then, two more books have been published: Red Seas Under Red Skies (2007) and The Republic of Thieves (2013). Four more books in the series are projected, with The Thorn of Emberlain having been delayed several times but hoped for release in late 2019 or early 2020.

Phoenix Pictures have produced a number of notable movies over the years, including The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), Apt Pupil (1998), The Thin Red Line (1998), Shutter Island (2010) and Black Swan (2010).

This is only an option and there is no major studio involvement, but this is a solid first step to getting the books on screen. It'll be interesting to see how this develops.

THE THORN OF EMBERLAIN might not be coming out in September (UPDATED)

A few months ago, Gollancz confirmed that Scott Lynch's The Thorn of Emberlain - the fourth book in his excellent Gentleman Bastard series - was a lock for release on 22 September this year. However, it is now looking less likely that the book will hit that date.

The book was recently pulled from Amazon UK and replaced by a 2018 placeholder, whilst the American edition of the novel has never been listed at all.

It might be that there has been some mix-up with the schedules, or that Bantam was unable to go to print that quickly and has now convinced Gollancz to delay until they are also ready. But so far no official explanation has been given for the book being pulled. If it has been delayed, it certainly won't be until 2018. Based on Scott's comments about how the book was coming together, I suspect (and hope) it will be more moderate delay until early 2017 at worst.

More news as soon as we get it.

UPDATE: Scott Lynch has confirmed that the book will not hit its release date, citing delays stemming from a move of house and writing space. He confirms that the current placeholder dates are not accurate and a more realistic date will be announced soon.

Scott Lynch unveils THORN OF EMBERLAIN map

Scott Lynch has unveiled his sketch map for the forthcoming Thorn of Emberlain. This map shows the Kingdom of the Seven Marrows where the book will take place, with Emberlain itself in the north-east.

Karthain (the setting of The Republic of Thieves) and the Sea of Brass in the south-east show where this map connects to the one from Red Seas Under Red Skies:

Camorr, the setting for The Lies of Locke Lamora, is located a considerable distance to the east of Tal Verrar.


The Thorn of Emberlain, the fourth volume of The Gentleman Bastard, will be released on 22 September.

Scott Lynch's THORN OF EMBERLAIN confirmed for September release

Gollancz have confirmed that they will be releasing Scott Lynch's The Thorn of Emberlain, the fourth volume of The Gentleman Bastard series, on 22 September this year.

This is a slight delay from the July 2016 date originally mooted, but Gollancz explained they made the change to better coordinate marketing activities as Scott will be in the UK that month for Fantasycon.

The previous volumes in the series were The Lies of Locke Lamora (2006), Red Seas Under Red Skies (2007) and The Republic of Thieves (2013). Three further volumes are anticipated to bring the series to a conclusion: The Ministry of Necessity, The Mage and the Master Spy (although this title may change) and Inherit the Night.

New release date for THE THORN OF EMBERLAIN

Scott Lynch has announced that the release date for his next Gentleman Bastard book, The Thorn of Emberlain, has had to drop back to early 2016.

Lynch did confirm that the book is very close to being done and might have made it out before the end of 2015 with an accelerated production process he and his publishers didn't feel comfortable with, so the book will drop back a little to the spring instead. He hopes to confirm hand-in of the manuscript shortly.

The Thorn of Emberlain is the fourth book in the series, following on from The Lies of Locke Lamora, Red Seas Under Red Skies and The Republic of Thieves. It will be followed by three more volumes in the series, The Ministry of Necessity, The Mage and the Master Spy (possibly to be retitled) and Inherit the Night.

Scott Lynch on overcoming depression to hit the bestseller lists

Way back in 2006, the hottest voice in fantasy was a young American author named Scott Lynch. His first novel, The Lies of Locke Lamora, was released to immense critical acclaim and reasonably strong sales. He followed it up in 2007 with Red Seas Under Red Skies, a well-received sequel. These were the first two books in a sequence called The Gentleman Bastard, planned to run to seven volumes, with Scott vowing to continue releasing a book a year, along with side-novellas.

In the event, the third book in the sequence, The Republic of Thieves, was not released until 2013. In the meantime Scott disappeared from view, aside from occasional mentions that he was working on the book. In 2010 he publicly admitted that he was facing a serious battle with depression. Depression affects many millions of people worldwide, and those in the creative industries seem to be disproportionately affected by it. Scott received many letters and emails of support, along with the backing of his publisher, and was able to get back into writing. The Republic of Thieves rewarded that faith by hitting the bestseller lists. The fourth novel in the series, The Thorn of Emberlain, is tentatively scheduled for the end of this year.

The Relentless Reading blog has interviewed Scott at some length here about the future books in the series, his other writing plans (interestingly, he has another novel in the works apparently not related to his core series) and how he came to grips with his situation. It is honest, forthright and very much worth a read.

THORN OF EMBERLAIN cover art revealed

Gollancz have unveiled the cover art for The Thorn of Emberlain, the fourth novel in The Gentleman Bastard series by Scott Lynch. The artwork is by Alejandro Colucci.

The Thorn of Emberlain takes Locke Lamora and his friend Jean to the Kingdom of the Seven Marrows, where a brutal Vadran civil war is raging. Gollancz is planning to release the novel before the end of 2015.

Paul Kearney and Scott Lynch updates

Solaris Books have revealed the latest version of the cover art for their upcoming new Paul Kearney novel, The Wolf in the Attic, as well as issuing a new blurb. It sounds like Solaris are very impressed with this book and are going to be pushing it out with some fanfare.

In 1920's Oxford a little girl called Anna Francis lives in a tall old house with her father and her doll Penelope. She is a refugee, a piece of flotsam washed up in England by the tides of the Great War and the chaos that trailed in its wake. Once upon a time she had a mother and a brother, and they all lived together in the most beautiful city in the world, by the shores of Homer's wine-dark sea. Anna remembers a time when Agamemnon came to tea, and Odysseus sat her upon his knee and told her stories of Troy.

But that is all gone now, and only to her doll does she ever speak of it, because her father cannot bear to have it recalled.

She sits in the shadows of the tall house and watches the rain on the windows, and creates worlds for herself to fill out the loneliness. The house becomes her own little kingdom, an island full of dreams and half-forgotten memories.

And then one winter day, she finds an interloper in the topmost, dustiest attic of the house. A Romany boy named Luca with yellow eyes, who is as alone in the world as she is.

In this way she meets the only real friend she will ever know.

Kearney also has a Warhammer 40,000 novel, Umbra Sumus, due for release from the Black Library on 7 May 2015.

The Space Marines of the Dark Hunters, descendants of the White Scars and their savage primarch Jaghatai Kahn, are called to battle on the world of Ras Hanem, a world they thought long since liberated from the grip of heresy and returned to Imperial rule. Many years ago, the Dark Hunters defeated the traitor warband known as the Punishers on that world, in a conflict that left deep wounds in the Chapter. But now the Punishers have returned, seeking vengeance upon their would-be destroyers. Captain Jonah Kerne of Mortai Company is set to annihilate the traitors once and for all, but the cost of victory may be too high for him to bear...

Meanwhile, Scott Lynch has confirmed that, despite a slip into 2015 for The Thorn of Emberlain, there will be no more six-year waits. The novel is on track for a mid-to-late 2015 release and Lynch is promising news about some other projects between now and then as well.

Update on Scott Lynch's THE THORN OF EMBERLAIN

Scott Lynch has provided a brief update on the progress of his fourth Gentleman Bastard novel, The Thorn of Emberlain. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the novel isn't going to be out this autumn, a year after The Republic of Thieves, as had originally been hoped. However, Scott reports that the book will be completed only slightly behind schedule.

On that basis and assuming no further delays, it's likely we will see the book in the first half of 2015. After a six-and-a-half year wait for The Republic of Thieves, the next book coming out just eighteen months later is still a big improvement.

From Scott:

Yeah, at this point we're not gonna hit a 2014 publication. I'm going to scrape past the manuscript finish line well before the end of 2014, but too late to get it on the docket in a sensible fashion. At least as far as I know. So, early 2015, precise date TBA. Don't take anything in a bookstore database as meaningful, look for the announcements from me and Gollancz/Random House.

Cheers,

SL

Scott Lynch on THE THORN OF EMBERLAIN

It's only been two months since The Republic of Thieves was published, but clearly Scott Lynch isn't resting on his laurels. Keen to avoid the six-year-wait between volumes, Lynch is already hoping to get the fourth book in The Gentleman Bastard series on the shelves before 2014 is done. From Fantastical Imaginations:

My next book, The Thorn of Emberlain, ought to be out in the fall of 2014.
 
The Thorn of Emberlain, the fourth book in the Gentleman Bastard sequence, picks up about half a year after The Republic of Thieves and finds Locke Lamora and Jean Tannen trying to get back on their feet with a major con. They’re trying to sell the services of a non-existent mercenary company to the besieged city-state of Emberlain, hoping to escape with the hiring fees before the chaos of the Vadran civil war overruns Emberlain. Naturally, things don’t go according to plan…

I can confirm that Scott's publishers are themselves confident that this date can be met: Scott began work on The Thorn of Emberlain some time before the final edits on Republic were done, and the novel is already in an advanced stage of writing. Whether they will hit this target remains to be seen, but all parties involved seem to be confident.

Lynch/Rothfuss London signing

Last night I attended a joint signing by Scott Lynch and Patrick Rothfuss at the huge Forbidden Planet store in central London. I'd met Pat before, four years ago, but this was my first time meeting Scott.

The signing table looms into sight at last, like Mount Doom after Frodo's long journey. Or something.

The signing was packed out. I mean, huge. The queue snaked around the entire store back and forth like a slow-moving conga. Fairly late in the process someone counted the number of people in the queue and came back with 300, but I think it was a fair bit more than that. Forbidden Planet is used to hosting massive signings from movie stars, but the size of this queue for two fantasy authors whose names don't have the initials 'R.R.' or 'J.K.' in them seemed to take the staff by surprise. I arrived at the store at 5.30 (the signing was due to start at 6.00) and finally got to the signing table at around 8.15pm. It turns out S.M. Stirling was also doing a signing upstairs and I contemplated getting one of his books to get signed, but he was long gone by the time the Lynchfuss signing was done.

A Gentleman Bastard and myself, yesterday.

Following the signing, we repaired to a nearby hostelry where Pat and Scott chatted with fans and did a bit of a double act discussion talking about their books and writing process. It sounds like we shouldn't be holding our breaths about seeing The Doors of Stone in the near future, but things sounded a lot more hopeful about The Thorn of Emberlain (though neither author, with wisdom born of experience, offered up potential release dates).

Myself, Pat Rothfuss and Pat Rothfuss's beard, which had its own hospitality suite. We should really be charging Tad Williams for free advertising here as well.

It was a bit of a slog to get through the signing process, but Pat and Scott were good speakers and the evening was fun. In the future, however, I think I'll make sure I get to the signing a bit earlier.

The Queue. Long will it haunt my dreams.

Fancy a cameo in the fourth Scott Lynch novel?

The David Gemmell Awards have a auction every year, and this year they are offering non-attendees of the award ceremony the chance to bid on lots. Among the items on offer is the chance to appear in Scott Lynch's fourth Gentleman Bastard novel, The Thorn of Emberlain (it being too late to arrange the same thing for the forthcoming third novel, The Republic of Thieves). Usually the person who wins these kind of events gets killed off in a nasty manner, but Scott has thrown in a twist: your character will survive! But only by the narrowest of the margin.


For a full list of items, including the complete Dresden Files from Orbit Books (complete in their swanky new covers) and the chance to have your manuscript appraised by publisher and editor Jo Fletcher, check out the link.